'We connected on a higher level:' Football coach grateful for Central York as he returns to alma mater
Josh Oswalt is adamant he never planned to leave Central York.
He said he was determined to finish the job he started when he came to York County in 2016. He said he had always told his staff that — outside of a good college football coaching offer — there was only one program that would make him consider leaving the Panthers.
That job became available this November.
Oswalt was officially announced as the new head football coach at Cumberland Valley High School on Monday night. A 2004 graduate of Cumberland Valley who won two district titles as a player, Oswalt is the program's fourth head coach since 1971. The Eagles have won 13 District 3 titles, third-most of any program and the most in the district's biggest classification.
"I struggled with (the decision) a good bit," Oswalt said Monday night. "You want to see things the whole way through when you take over a program. I applied for the job because I didn't want to look back and regret that I didn't.
"There were times (during the interview process) that I didn't think it was going to work out. But (Cumberland Valley) met all the needs to bring me back home."
According to official enrollment numbers released by the PIAA, Cumberland Valley has the third-most male students (Central York is sixth) in District 3 and the most of any suburban high school in the region. According to the school board agenda from Monday night, Oswalt will be paid an $11,500 stipend to coach the football program and $4,000 to run the winter conditioning program.
The 33-year-old Oswalt, who lives with his wife and young son in Dillsburg, is currently the alternative education facilitator at Central York. He said he is hoping and planning to have a teaching job at Cumberland Valley High School next school year.
Still, Oswalt said he was very happy with the level of resources he had at Central York, especially coming from Carlisle High School where that was always a struggle.
"Central York is a great place with great families and it's diverse. It has all the things a great school district needs," he said. "Central York supports athletics more than I had ever experienced. There was only one school district that could meet the needs even more and that's Cumberland Valley, which is arguably the best school district in central Pennsylvania."
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'Relationships' the toughest part of leaving
Oswalt came to Central York in 2016 after six years at Carlisle, where he compiled an 18-46 record but rebuilt a struggling program and took the Herd to consecutive playoff appearances his final two seasons.
He took over a Central York program coming off a 3-7 season and the controversial dismissal of 34-year head coach Brad Livingston. In four seasons, Oswalt led the Panthers to a 30-13 record, four winning seasons and three District 3 playoff appearances.
He helped quarterback Cade Pribula break the all-time York County records for passing yards, completions and touchdowns and earn a scholarship to Division I Delaware.
This past season, Central York went 9-1 in the regular season and beat YAIAA Division I opponents by an average of 43.5 points. But the Panthers lost their opening playoff game, 47-14, on the road to Harrisburg. Central York went 0-3 in the playoffs under Oswalt.
This year's playoff loss was a difficult pill to swallow for Oswalt, who talked throughout the past four years about building Central York into a regional powerhouse in the mold of Cumberland Valley. After the Harrisburg game, he expressed his frustration with Central York's schedule in the YAIAA, which guarantees the Class 6A Panthers five games against Class 5A opponents.
That's a problem he won't have at Cumberland Valley. The Eagles play in the dominant Mid-Penn Commonwealth, which features only 6A schools and powerhouses like Harrisburg, Central Dauphin and State College. Cumberland Valley finished fifth in the division this past season.
While he's excited to return to the Mid-Penn, Oswalt said the prospect of playoff success and his goal to turn Central York into a District 3 champion were not major factors in his decision to leave.
"It frustrates me but by no means was that a reason," he said of not winning a playoff game at Central York. "The thing that weighed on my decision was the relationships I built with my players and that I won't be as close and spend the same time that I did with them. That pulled on me."
Oswalt said there was "a lot of heartbreak" when he informed the Central York players that he was leaving for Cumberland Valley. But he said he received a number of heartfelt messages from players and their families over the last week. He said he plans to communicate with and help Central York players with their college recruitment process if needed.
He's not leaving the cupboard bare at Central York. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The Panthers will bring back a lot of the top players from this year's team, including sophomore quarterback Beau Pribula, junior receivers Taylor Wright-Rawls and Judah Tomb, junior offensive tackle Josh Gaffney, junior defensive tackle Seth Griffiths and sophomore running back Imeire Manigault.
Oswalt said next year's Central York team could "arguably be the best team to come through the high school."
"If they go 10-0 next season, and that's a goal we talked about, they will be the winningest graduating class in school history," Oswalt said. "I'm confident that group will go places Central York hasn't gone since the transition to six classifications. That will be an appealing (head coaching) job and I'm sure it will be highly-contested."
Central York has posted the head football position on its employment page and plans to keep it open until Jan. 3, according to athletic director Marty Trimmer.
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Facing his former team
If the Panthers do go 10-0 next season, they will have to beat their old head coach. Cumberland Valley will go on the road to play Central York on Sept. 4. The Eagles handed the Panthers their only regular-season loss this season in a 13-12 game in Week 2.
Oswalt led Central York to the program's first and only win over Cumberland Valley in 2018.
"That's going to weigh on me, but it's not about me," Oswalt said of next year's matchup. "The cool thing is that every player on the field that day will be my guy.
"It's not unusual to see me at lunch time (at Central York) talking with my players about football or just life. We connected on a higher level. The one thing that made me feel good was the amount of players that came up to me (after taking the Cumberland Valley job) and said, 'Congrats coach, we're proud of you.' Or parents that thanked me for everything I did for their son. Those relationships are what I'll miss."
Oswalt said he's planning on meeting the Cumberland Valley players before the holiday break. He estimated about half his coaching staff from Central York will be coming with him.
He added that he will not be running the Wing-T offense that has traditionally been used at Cumberland Valley, including during his playing days under legendary coach Tim Rimpfel.
Oswalt takes over for Michael Whitehead, who led the Eagles to a 59-29 record, three District 3 championship appearances and the 2015 District 3 title in seven seasons. Whitehead was dismissed in November after going 3-7 and 5-5 the last two seasons. The Eagles still made the playoffs this fall and nearly upset No. 2 seed Manheim Township in a 32-26 loss in the District 3 Class 6A quarterfinals.
Oswalt has experience stepping into delicate situations. He admitted he "wasn't always well-liked" at Central York after taking over for the beloved Livingston. Still, he doesn't think there will be any issues at Cumberland Valley.
"I'm a very reflective person and there were some things in 2016 that I needed to take a different approach with," he said. "When I went to Central York, I talked about the rich tradition of Cumberland Valley, but it didn't ring true with the guys until last year about the importance of those big games. Now they've been in those games multiple times. So there are always different approaches."